Albus Potter and the Sleeping Wyrm
by classic99lady00
Summary: Before Wizards went into hiding from Muggles, wands were a rarity and magic was more of the elemental type. But of course, everything evolves and knowledge spread and grew. Then the demands of Muggles became too much for the Wizards and the Magic Folk became fantasies to the Non-Magic Folk. Only the oldest of the oldest Wizards can remember how things used to be...
1. Travels of a First Year

Albus watched his parents shrink away into mist and he felt his courage shrink with them. And as the Hogwarts Express rounded a corner, Harry and Ginny Potter disappeared, leaving Albus with his shivering stomach.

Albus Severus Potter was on his way to his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…and despite all that his father had told him, neither his fear nor excitement was allayed, though he felt that he could finally manage it.

"Albus," said a soft voice behind him.

Albus turned to see Rose Weasley, his cousin, staring at him. Rose was slightly taller than him, with blue eyes like her dad, but her hair was all her mother's, bushy and brown. She used to have rather large front teeth, but Aunt Hermione had allowed her to shrink them just last summer.

"Should we go sit down?" Rose asked.

Albus looked around him and found that he and Rose were nearly alone in the narrow hallway of the train; only a few strangers were meandering up and down.

He swallowed his itchy throat, and nodded, saying, "Sure."

Rose led the way down the hall, looking into the crowded compartments as they passed them. Albus could see a couple heads of familiar, red hair in the most crowded of the compartments, but most of the students looked impossibly tall and frightening. He was very careful to not get in any one of the students' way as they passed him.

Suddenly, Rose stopped beside a somewhat empty compartment; there were only three third-year boys sitting near the window, talking happily.

"May we sit with you?" Rose said as she pulled the sliding door aside.

After a second, the boys caught on and assured her that it was fine with them, then continued with their loud conversation. They were talking of Quidditch, the most famous game in the Wizarding world. Albus was a big fan of the game, but didn't feel like joining in the discussion.

Albus and Rose sidled in, and sat next to each other without a word, staring ahead at the opposite seats. Albus was sure that Rose was nervous, but he doubted that she could be feeling the same kind of nervousness that he felt; she would definitely be in Gryffindor. She was so much braver than he was….

"Your dad was only joking when he said that thing about us being in Slytherin," Albus said suddenly. "Right?" He couldn't help but ask the last part.

"I think that he was," Rose said. Her unwavering voice was calming to Albus. "Dad's always joking about things like that."

Albus nodded, but felt only slightly better. The excitement and fear bouncing around his ribcage would not leave him alone for one second, fighting with each other and messing with his head.

The door to the compartment slid open and Albus turned to see a boy standing in the doorway.

"Sorry, but do you mind? A bunch of kids kicked us out of our compartment," he said.

"Of course not. Come on in," Rose said immediately.

The boy and a girl came in, sitting down in the two empty seats with a bit of relief on their faces.

Albus ventured his guess, "Are you first-years?"

The two newcomers nodded. "You too?" the girl asked.

Albus nodded, "I'm Albus Potter, and this is my cousin, Rose Weasley."

"I'm Evan, Evan Diggory," the boy said, smiling as he shook Albus' hand. Evan had sharp features; he was tanned and freckled, and his short hair and eyes were very dark brown.

"I'm Sophia Ross," the girl said, reaching over to shake Albus' hand. Sophia's hair was cut short like a boy's and was a bright electric blond; her blue eyes were vivid. "Albus is a weird name…no offense," she said, smiling with straight teeth. "Were you named after someone?" Albus noticed that she talked strangely.

He smiled back at her all the same, "Yes, after a headmaster of Hogwarts actually. He's dead now though."

"Oh," Sophia said.

"Are you from the United States?" Rose said. She'd obviously noticed the same thing as Albus.

"Yeah," Sophia said. "My dad got a job offer, so we moved here a year ago."

Time passed and the sun rose higher as the train travelled further through hills and fields. Eventually, the little old witch with the trolley came rolling by, and Albus pulled out his money; his parents had warned him to not spoil his appetite before the Welcoming Feast, so he only planned on buying his favorites.

While waiting his turn by the cart, he suddenly felt an arm close around his throat from behind and a fist began rubbing the top of his head, hard. Albus fought out of the hold and said, "Cut it out, James! That hurts!"

"Ah, come on, little brother," James said affectionately. "Don't be a baby." James, his older brother, had a somewhat stockier frame than Albus and had dark red hair, darker than any of the Weasley family, but still the trademark red. James was just going into his third year now.

Albus frowned while he straightened his collar, wishing he was taller.

And then a seventh-year girl came up behind James and thumped him on the back of the head.

"Why are you beating on Al?" Victoire, their fair-haired cousin said. Victoire was their Uncle Bill's and Aunt Fleur's eldest daughter; thanks to her partially-veela blood from her mother's side of the family, she was rather beautiful with bright blue eyes and silky, white-blond hair to her waist.

"Cause he's my little brother," James said, shrugging. "It's kind of my job."

"You're fired," Albus grumbled.

Victoire laughed and went around James to put an arm around Albus' shoulders. "How's my favorite cousin doing?" she asked.

"Oh, real cheeky, Victoire, saying that when I'm standing right here," James interrupted, pretending to take offense.

Victoire threw him an annoyed look before smiling down at Albus, "Really, though. How's the train ride been so far?"

Albus shrugged, "Its ok. I at least found friends. They're in there with Rose." He gestured to the compartment next to him.

"Good job, cous!" Victoire exclaimed. "Well, I'll have to meet them! But not right now, if you don't mind, I got to get back to my friends with their sweets."

Albus caught a glimpse of the back of James' head as his older brother left the trolley. A memory stirred in his head.

"Hey, Victoire," he asked and motioned for her to bend down so that he could whisper in her ear, "were you snogging Teddy?"

Victoire colored and laughed a little before saying, "I should've known James would tell you. Yes, I'm seeing Teddy."

Albus' eyes widened but he only nodded, not sure what to say.

When it was his turn to buy his things, Albus loaded his arms with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs before moving back to his compartment and allowing the rest of the students to get what they wanted.

"What are those?" Sophia asked as she watched Albus bite into a beet-flavored piece of candy and pull a face.

"You've never had these?" Rose said, pointing at the box of Every Flavor Beans and chewing on a dirt-flavored candy.

Sophia shook her head. "I didn't even know wizards existed until this summer when I got my letter, so I don't know about wizard candy."

"You're Muggle-born?" Evan said loudly.

Sophia pursed her lips, "Yeah."

Evan proceeded with stuffing his mouth with a whole Chocolate Frog.

"Try this, Sophia." Albus held out a gray, black-specked bean to her.

Without hesitating, Sophia reached over and popped the candy into her mouth. They watched as she chewed and then started coughing in astonishment, "It tastes… like smoke! What _was_ that?"

"Oh!" Albus said disappointedly, looking back through the box. "I was sure it was pepper. Here, try this one." He held out a white bean.

Sophia gave him an excited look and asked, "What does it taste like?"

"I don't know, do I?" Albus laughed. "Go on, the white ones are usually alright."

Sophia finally reached over and picked it up, looking at it carefully before putting it in her mouth. She wrinkled her nose, "Glue!"

Everyone laughed.

Albus forgot where they were headed as the train pulled them ever onward and the sun began to sink. Lanterns flickered to life just as the light disappeared from the windows.

"You're Harry Potter's son, right?" Evan asked eventually. "You look just like his pictures." He held up a Chocolate Frog card with Harry Potter's face and description on it.

Albus smiled, "Yes." He had heard that several times; the same green, almond shaped eyes, same unruly black hair, same thin face and arms and legs. The only true differences were the glasses and scar missing from Albus' face.

"Cool," Evan said. "So what's it like, being his son? Is it annoying?"

"No, not really," Albus said. "I guess it is a bother having people send buckets of owls all the time, but I'm used to it."

"Is your dad famous or something?" Sophia asked, picking through a handful of Every Flavor Beans for the interesting colored ones.

Everyone looked at her silently, and then Evan, his mouth wide, said, "What?! You don't know who Harry Potter is?"

"I'm Muggle-born, dummy," Sophia crossed her eyes at him, knocking her head with a fist. "I don't know about wizard pop-stars or anything."

Evan scoffed, "He's NOT a pop-star. He's the most famous wizard in England! He stopped You-Know-Who!"

"Who?" Sophia asked through a mouthful of candy.

Rose started laughing, "You still call him You-Know-Who? He's dead!"

"It doesn't hurt to show him some respect," Evan snapped. "That's what my dad says. Besides, he's still got Death Eaters around."

"What are those?" Sophia asked.

"He doesn't deserve to be _respected,"_ Rose said furiously.

"WHO?" Sophia tried to interrupt.

Evan looked exasperated, "I know that but…"

Albus answered Sophia, "Lord Voldemort."

John choked on his sentence.

"Who's that?" Sophia said.

"Well, Voldemort was a bad wizard," Albus said.

"Like 'kill people' bad or just 'steal money' bad?" Sophia said.

"More like 'take over the world' bad," Albus said gravely. "Things were really terrible when he was in power. He thought that Muggles were stupid and that they should work for Wizards. He started hunting down Muggle-borns like you once, before my dad stopped him."

"How'd your dad stop him?" Sophia asked, raptly listening with awe in her eyes.

Albus hesitated, "It's a long story."

"I'll listen," Sophia said; "there's nothing else to do."

Albus looked over at Rose, who shrugged, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This would be the first time he had ever told someone his dad's story…and probably not the last, seeing as how famous his father was. He still didn't see why everyone had to make such a fuss over him, Albus Potter. He wasn't his father… and he would never be able to be like him.

"Alright," Albus said finally.

"Hey, you're Harry Potter's son!" said one of the third-year boys near the window. This was the first time they'd said anything to them the entire trip, and so everyone was a bit shocked.

"You're a Potter, right?" said another boy, a little more polite than his companion.

Albus nodded.

The three boys went back to whispering to each other, casting glances in his direction every once in a while.

"Anyway," Sophia broke the momentary silence, "how did your dad stop…Volse… Vulture…?"

"Voldemort," Rose corrected her. Evan shivered.

"Oh, yeah, him," Sophia said. "How did he stop him, Al?"

Albus cleared his throat, "Well… um…Voldemort, he was a very bad wizard that everyone was afraid of… and… well… a prophecy was made that he could be defeated by a boy whose parents had defied Voldemort three times. He thought that meant my dad. So he tried to kill him when he was just a baby.

"He killed my grandparents and then when he tried to cast the Killing Curse on my dad, it kind of backfired on Voldemort and… well, took away his body.

"So he went into hiding, trying to get his body back, while my dad was growing up with his mum's Muggle family, the Dursleys."

"Albus, what happened to them? I've never seen them," Rose said.

"I don't know," Albus shrugged. "They went into hiding when my dad turned seventeen. He said it was because their first form of protection stopped working. I never thought to ask where they are right now."

There was a pause.

"So what happened after that?" Sophia said.

Albus recollected his thoughts, "The first year that my dad went to Hogwarts, he stopped Voldemort from getting a powerful stone that would get him his body back. The second year, he stopped Voldemort from taking over my mum's body and killed a basilisk with a sword. Then in his forth year, he saw Voldemort get his body back in a graveyard and almost got killed. His fifth year, he fought Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic. In his sixth year, he started learning how to defeat Voldemort with Dumbledore, the Headmaster that I'm named after, and then my dad killed Voldemort when he was seventeen; he didn't go to Hogwarts that year."

There was another pause while his friends waited for him to continue. Even the third-year boys on the side were listening raptly for the rest of the story.

Evan spoke the question on everyone's mind. "How'd he do it?"

"I don't know. He won't tell me until I'm older," Albus said a little darkly. "I don't know why he can't just tell me. I'm old enough to know. I bet he told James."

"Maybe it's Dark Magic," Rose said.

Albus just nodded; they'd had this conversation before plenty of times.

"Wow," Sophia said. "So, he's a like a real life super-hero! And he fought Voldemort when he was our age? That's so cool! Maybe we'll have adventures like that!"

Albus was about to answer her when the compartment door opened again. A tall fifth-year girl with a badge on her robes looked in, "You all had better change into your robes. We're nearly there."

Albus looked to the window as everyone in their compartment started to search for their robes; it was starting to grow dark and they were coming up on a forest, dark and thick.

He quickly found his robes and as he pulled them over his head, he felt his excitement mount inside him again. His feelings were mirrored on his friends' faces.

The train slowed and eventually stopped in a lit up station. "Hogsmeade Station" was in gold letters above a door across the platform.

Albus, Rose, Evan, and Sophia forced their way through the door of the train and onto the platform. It was misty and dark and very crowded. It was all they could do to just stay together.

"What do we do?" asked Sophia.

"Hagrid's going to take us to the Castle in boats," Rose said excitedly.

"Who's Hagrid?" Evan asked.

"FIRS' YEARS! FIRS' YEARS OVER HERE! FIRS' YEARS!"

They could hear the familiar voice over the heads of the other students, deep and loud. Albus looked in the right direction and could see the huge looming shadow not far away.

"C'mon!" he grabbed Evan's sleeve and saw Rose do the same with Sophia. He led John through the crowd until he was right next to the big man.

Hagrid was twice the size of an adult man and almost ten-times as round. His wild black hair was just as tangled as ever, and his eyes glittered like black beetles above his mess of a beard. His hands were big enough to cover the bedroom windows when he was hiding a present in the backyard and his boots were big enough for a six year old to sit comfortably in; Albus knew this firsthand.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Albus called up to him.

"Hullo there, Albus, Rosie," Hagrid beamed down at them, brandishing the lantern in his hand. "How's yer parents? Everythin' good, I expect, seein' as how I saws you all just a week ago?"

"Everyone's fine," Rose said, smiling. "This is Sophia Ross, Hagrid. And that's Evan Diggory."

Sophia and Evan were staring with wide eyes at the half-giant, craning their necks the better to see his face.

"Nice ter meet yeh both," Hagrid nodded. "FIRS' YEARS! OVER HERE! You four stick close ter me in yer boat, alrigh'? I want ter show yeh summit out on the lake. FIRS' YEARS!"

They waited beside Hagrid until all the first-time students had been gathered around and the rest of the students had gone off to the carriages.

Then Hagrid bellowed, "Righ' then! Follow me!"

Obediently, the crowd of first years shuffled quickly after Hagrid as he led the way down the platform to a path in the trees. Albus felt Rose press against his arm as it grew dark around them, and could sympathize with her fear; the trees looked menacing in the shadows from Hagrid's lantern. He wondered if any thestrals were out there, watching them go by, and he shivered.

But it wasn't long until they were out of the trees again and on a gravelly beach to a huge lake. In the darkness, Albus couldn't make out the opposite bank.

"This way!" Hagrid yelled to the first years and pointed to a dock with twenty or so little boats around it. "Four ter a boat! Keep yer hands an' feet inside, an' don' rock the boat if yeh wanna stay dry!"

"Hagrid, what is it you want to show us?" Rose asked as everyone started to get into the boats.

Albus, Sophia, and Evan all looked up expectantly at the big man.

"Can't tell yeh, Rosie," Hagrid said happily. "It would ruin the surprise!"

"Please, Hagrid! Please, oh, please tell us!" Albus said; pleading was the best way to go if Hagrid was hiding something.

"Nope!" Hagrid shook his head, still beaming. "You'll see! C'mon, get in yer boat, you four."

Albus led the way into a boat, sitting in the front with Evan. The girls took up the back.

Hagrid had to take his own boat. "Everyone in?!" he yelled. There was a general call of "Yes!" and Hagrid nodded to himself.

All at once, the boats all lurched forward of their own accord, Hagrid's at the lead.

The boats were gliding smoothly over the water's surface, creating a gentle breeze that played with Albus' hair. What was it that Hagrid wanted to show them… that was in the middle of the lake?

As they reached the middle of the lake, the first years received their first view of the castle up on the cliff top. It was an impressive sight, battlements and towers and gargoyles against the dark sky. There were windows ablaze here and there, creating a flaming yellow rectangle against the darkness.

Albus was staring up at his new school in awe when Hagrid called for his attention.

"Al! Al, look! Over there, Al!" he hissed not so quietly; everyone in a five-boat radius was now looking at Hagrid.

Albus looked in the direction Hagrid pointed; all he could see was the black, starry surface of the lake and the trees on the far bank. He narrowed his eyes, but didn't see anything interesting.

"What is it?" Albus called, looking at Hagrid again as he shrugged.

There was a sudden, loud splash and several of the girls in the boats screamed. Albus whipped his head back around; he could clearly see the tail and scales and fins, but he didn't know what the thing could be. It didn't have tentacles, so it couldn't be the giant squid…

The creature arched into the air gracefully and crashed into the water only feet away from their boat. Albus cried out as the cold water hit him and his friends. He heard Rose, Sophia, and Evan sputtering around him as he turned to look at Hagrid. His largest friend was beaming down into the water at the shadow of the large fish-thing, obviously fond of the creature.

Albus thought that he should have known; Hagrid was particularly drawn to magical creatures… dangerous ones mostly. What had he gotten his hands on this time? Mum wouldn't be too happy to know about it.

They were not splashed again, but Albus could see a huge head breaching the glassy surface of the water every now and then, and he didn't feel completely safe until they had finally landed on a grassy beach.

"What was that, Hagrid?" Albus asked as soon as he was able. Rose, Evan, and Sophia were right beside him, listening. They were not the only ones.

"They're Hippocampus, Albus," Hagrid said happily.

"'They're'…as in more than one?" Rose asked at the same time that Sophia said, "Camping hippos?"

"Part horse, part fish," John said.

Sophia's mouth fell open, "Really? That's _awesome_!"

"Got a whole school of 'em just a couple o' weeks ago," Hagrid said, pleased with Sophia's reaction.

"What exactly do they eat?" said an unfamiliar voice.

Albus turned to see which student it was; a boy with a pale, pointed face, white blond hair, and dripping robes was standing a little out from the crowd, staring at Hagrid with his gray eyes. Albus thought he recognized him from the station…. Uncle Ron and his father had been staring over at the boy's family on the platform.

"Grass and kelp, mostly," Hagrid said knowingly. "But they like sea grapes when they can get 'em."

"So they're not dangerous to people?" said a girl.

"Of course not!" Hagrid waved his gigantic hands. "Gentle as kittens, them!"

"Though much bigger than them," Rose muttered.

"Righ' then!" Hagrid suddenly bellowed, making Albus and his friends jump. "Follow me, please!"

Albus, Rose, Sophia, and Evan were close behind Hagrid as he led them up the sloping lawns to the huge oak double doors.

The Castle had seen a great and terrible battle only two decades ago, and it was obvious. There were fading black gouge marks in the walls from the many curses that had flown and a few of the gigantic bricks hadn't been removed from the grounds as a reminder for the deaths that had occurred there.

Just as Hagrid was leading the first years up the marble steps, the double doors swung outward, torchlight flowing down at them like a carpet.


	2. Old Hat, New Tricks

The warmth in the Entrance Hall was comforting to the students who had been soaked by the Hippocampus. The marble walls held bracketed torches, and a giant staircase dominated the big room.

Albus wasn't paying much attention to the room, though. He felt as if his stomach was playing jump rope. He clenched his hands in his new school robes and hoped that he wouldn't throw up. James would never let him live it down if he did.

He could hear the older students already sitting down at their tables behind the huge doors into the Great Hall. His knees started to tremble.

Sophia appeared to his right, and Albus could feel her shivering. He looked over at her; she looked almost as excited and frightened as Albus was. Somehow, knowing that she was scared made Albus feel slightly braver.

"We'll be ok," Albus said to her. "We only have to put on a hat."

Sophia looked at him with a strange look in her eyes, "Put on a hat? To do what?"

"To sort us into Houses," Albus explained. "It's kind of like our family at school. If we break rules, the professors take away points and if we do something good, we get points. Those keep track of the House points." Albus pointed to the huge hourglasses near the marble staircase. At the moment, all the lower bulbs were empty. "If we have the most points at the end of the year, we win. My dad told me."

Sophia smiled, but apparently couldn't talk.

The giant doors began to open, creaking like thunder. Albus looked up at the man coming out of the door.

The professor was young and healthy-looking with dark, well-kept hair and a slightly pudgy, kind face. His robes were deep blue and his hat made him look taller than he actually was. Albus recognized him immediately.

"Hello, new students," Professor Longbottom said warmly. "If you'll just follow me and line up at the front of the Hall, thank you." He turned and began walking into the Great Hall.

Albus swallowed hard. He could see the multitude of bodies sitting beyond the doors and felt his stomach clench once again.

The Great Hall was just as his father had told him, but Albus couldn't believe how amazing the place was. The room was taller than it was long or wide with intricate walls. The ceiling was reflecting the sky full of stars outside. The thousands of candles floating over his head illuminated all the students' heads and the professors at the Head Table. The four House tables were crowded with children; Albus could see a considerable amount of red hair clustered together on one particular table. James caught his eye and winked, smirking deviously while Fred, their carrot-haired cousin, grinned beside him. Albus glared at his older brother as his stomach made another uncomfortable leap into his throat.

The eleven year olds lined up at the head of the hall. Albus found himself near the end of the line, close to where Hagrid was seated.

Professor Longbottom straightened their line, winking down at Albus and Rose as he passed them, and then moved up the dais toward the Head Table. With a flick of his wrist, the professor made a stool appear.

"Now, students, you will be sorted," Professor Longbottom said, and then proceeded to say what Albus had previously told Sophia about the Houses and the Sorting.

Albus' eyes wandered over the stool in the middle of the platform, catching on the ragged piece of grayish-black cloth that lay draped over the seat. He could remember his mum telling him about how the Sorting Hat had been burned at the Battle of Hogwarts, and how his Aunt Hermione had helped in repairing it. He also remembered what his dad said about the hat talking into his head… and about asking to be in Gryffindor.

Please, Albus said in his head, willing the hat to pick up the message.

"Aagard, Tyler," Professor Longbottom said loudly.

Albus was brought back into his body. He could never remember being so nervous in his entire life.

A short blond boy hesitantly stepped forward and sat on the stool. Carefully, Professor Longbottom set the beaten hat onto his head. The Sorting Hat drooped sadly on Tyler's head, seemingly lifeless, but Albus knew better. Earlier, James had been tormenting him about the hat eating his head, moving down to his neck to strangle him.

As Albus watched, Tyler Aagard flinched, his hands rising to touch his head. Professor Longbottom leaned toward Tyler, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The Sorting Hat didn't move, but Albus knew the thing was talking in Tyler's head. Albus shivered, wondering what the voice sounded like.

Then the hat began to twitch. Albus was surprised as the hat suddenly stood up straight and a trail of blue sparks flew out of its floppy tip. The children sitting at the House tables began to clap. Sophia gasped as the streamer wove a complicated design into the air. Squinting, Albus thought it looked like some sort of bird, wings outstretched.

"Ravenclaw!" Professor Longbottom shouted above the applause from the tables.

Tyler Aagard stood, handing the fragile hat to Professor Longbottom before he walked down to his new table.

"Applewhite, Melanie," Professor Longbottom said loudly. The applause abated to near silence once more. A tall, brown skinned girl with short, curly hair walked forward now. Albus was impressed by the boldness in her dark eyes. She sat on the stool and after less then fifteen seconds on her head, the hat began spouting red sparks in the shape of a lion.

"Gryffindor!" Professor Longbottom shouted.

James and Fred stood on their bench, whirling their scarlet and gold scarves in the air as they cheered.

"Anders, Jeremy" went to Ravenclaw and "Berk, Chelsea" went to Hufflepuff.

"Braxton, Kimberly."

"Slytherin!"

"Butler, Felix."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Caltrot, Shirley."

"Hufflepuff!"

Then Evan was called to sit on the stool. He looked only a little bit nervous and there was a glint in his eye. The hat didn't seem to have too much trouble deciding on Evan's place. Barely ten seconds later, a red lion was glistening in the air above Evan.

As the names kept being called, Albus clapped while trying to hold down his leaping stomach; he was just now thinking that he shouldn't have eaten so much candy on the train. He wondered if everyone else was as nervous as he was.

Albus recognized the name Malfoy when it was called. He'd listened to more than enough stories of 'the good old days' when Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione visited.

Looking around, Albus saw the blond boy he'd seen by the lake walking toward the stool. Albus thought he looked sickly pale.

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose said from Albus' side. "Dad was teasing me about him."

Albus knew that the Malfoy family had been on Voldemort's side of the struggle, but then they went quiet and helpful after Voldemort had died. He'd heard his mum mention that the Malfoy's were a bit unpopular. The whispers at Scorpius' name proved that.

Albus watched the boy's straight back as the hat lowered over his head.

"Definitely a Slytherin," said a boy standing next to Sophia, talking to his friend. "All the Malfoy family is."

Albus knew it, too. Any minute now, green magic would make a snake in the air and Scorpius Malfoy would join his friends on the Slytherin table…

Inexplicably, red sparks began to fly around the Malfoy's head. Albus watched in amazement as a lion appeared in the air, declaring Scorpius a Gryffindor. There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone took the sight in, the lion fading into nothing, and then Professor Longbottom made it official by shouting, "Gryffindor!"

The students sitting at the tables found their hands and began to clap in a confused sort of way, starting to whisper again.

Scorpius didn't look at all better than when he'd stepped up to be Sorted. In fact, Albus thought he looked worse as he handed the hat to Professor Longbottom and went to sit with the staring Gryffindors, staying a fair distance away from the rest of them. He leaned forward to put his face his hands, holding unusually still.

Albus turned to look at Rose, his eyebrows raised. Rose had her mouth open in shock, but for once didn't have anything to say.

It seemed to take forever and at the same time, no time at all for Professor Longbottom to reach the names starting with P. He called a girl named Angela Peters up, who went to Slytherin, and then called out, "Potter, Albus."

Albus thought there were twice as many eyes turned on him than the others as he walked up to the stool, and that the hall was twice as quiet. Shaking, he sat on the stool, clenching his hands on the seat and telling himself over and over that he wouldn't be in Slytherin. He would plead with the hat and ask with all his heart to be put anywhere else; he didn't know what he'd do if he was put in Slytherin. What would other people say? He'd be an outcast like Scorpius Malfoy was in Gryffindor.

"Don't worry, Al," Professor Longbottom whispered as he held up the hat.

Albus started to smile up at his parents' friend, but then the hat had been placed on his head and the torment began. Albus held completely still, waiting on pins and needles for the hat to whisper to him. Though he'd expected it, Albus jumped when a low voice spoke into his ear.

"Rather jumpy, aren't you?" it said.

Albus swallowed and thought, "Please, not Slytherin."

The voice laughed quietly, "Much more like your father than your brother, aren't you? Just want to be kept out of Slytherin. It isn't an all bad House, you know. Many a Slytherin has been very successful."

Albus eyed the students at the Slytherin Table, seeing the sly, calculating faces and shrinking at the thought of them becoming his temporary family. Albus tried to keep the terror from showing on his face and closed his eyes. "Don't put me in Slytherin. Please, don't put me in Slytherin. Anything but Slytherin."

The hat chuckled, making Albus shiver. "Your namesake was a very powerful man, as is your father. Slytherin is for the ambitious, keen sort. And it seems to me that you have a thirst to prove yourself every bit as important as the famous Harry Potter."

Albus didn't know what to think to the hat. It could probably see his mind better than he could; how could he tell it that it was wrong? He could see the headlines now… _"Harry Potter's Son: A Slytherin." _Despair hit him as he thought about having to face his brother and his dad and his mum and his little sister and Rose…

"But it doesn't seem to be that simple. Lets see here; you have a devoted heart and a strong mind if you're memories are anything to go by…" The Sorting Hat sighed, "And you have every ounce of courage that your predecessors had. It might even overwhelm your other traits. I wish you luck, Albus Potter."

As the hat said his name, scarlet sparks swirled around Albus, causing the students to clap and cheer.

Albus smiled with relief. "Thank you," he thought to the hat. He didn't get a response.

"Gryffindor!" Professor Longbottom shouted above the screaming from the Gryffindor Table. Albus handed him the hat and then ran grinning down to the table where Evan and his family were cheering.

"Good job, bro!" James said, playfully punching his shoulder.

"That hat took its time, didn't it?" Evan asked. "Definitely took longer with you than with me."

Albus couldn't stop smiling. He glanced up at Hagrid and received a thumbs up.

"Ross, Sophia."

Attention went back to the front of the Great Hall as Sophia stepped up to the stool. She seemed at ease, to Albus' surprise. She chatted with Professor Longbottom before he set the hat on her head. Almost immediately, the red magic swirled from the hat and Sophia was declared a Gryffindor. As she came to sit next to Albus, she gave him a high-five.

"Russel, Terry" became a Slytherin.

"Rutherford, Fiona" became a Hufflepuff.

"Simons, Brett" became a Gryffindor.

"Sotherland, Maria" became a Hufflepuff.

"Suzuka, Matthew" became a Ravenclaw.

And it continued until the number of first-years dwindled into single digits and then only Rose and a tall, blond boy stood alone.

"Weasley, Rose."

Albus unconsciously bit his lip as Rose stepped forward and sat on the stool, breathing deeply. She was going to make it, Albus was sure. She couldn't suddenly move into Slytherin. Albus didn't know how he would be able to face her if she didn't make it. It took longer than Albus liked for the hat to finally spout red sparks and mark Rose a Gryffindor. She sat next to Sophia, beaming.

The blond boy, "Yellar, Derek," became a Hufflepuff.

Soon after Derek sat with the other Hufflepuffs, Professor Longbottom shouted, "Headmistress Bell will have a few words."

The woman sitting in the center of the Head Table stood up. Albus thought she was better looking than the rest of the girl professors. She was younger than the rest. Her shiny, brown hair was cut around her square jaw and her eyes were amazingly blue. She wore red velvet robes and her black hat set off the ruby earrings in her ears. Her hands had numerous rings.

"Hello, children," she said in a powerful voice. "I would like to welcome all our students back to Hogwarts for another year and to go through a few things for our new students. I dare say, some of you others will need a refresher or two." She smiled as the general audience chuckled.

"First," Headmistress Bell held up her forefinger. "The Forbidden Forest is off limits to everyone. There are dangerous creatures in there that can harm students, and I'd rather not have to deal with your unhappy parents.

"Second; there will be no magic in the corridors between classes. There is a list of forbidden items tacked onto the door of Mrs. Norris' office. I hope you will spare Mrs. Norris a bit of trouble by at least glancing at the list before purchasing any Weasley Wizard Wheezes' Products.

"My third and final point before we eat; enjoy this year, children!"

Headmistress Bell clapped her hands and the golden plates all along the tables filled with every kind of food Albus could imagine. His parent weren't kidding when they said Hogwarts had amazing service.

Evan began digging into his food, talking animatedly with two other first-year boys who sat across from them. Sophia just gaped at the food sitting before her. Albus began to laugh at her with his mouth full of turkey leg and Sophia nudged him with her shoulder, saying, "Shut up," before reaching for a platter of lamb chops.

The feast was full of loud talk and incessant eating. Albus laughed and he talked with everyone within earshot, including a few Ravenclaw girls who'd leaned over to ask him if he was related to Harry Potter. It was such a relief to have the Sorting over with… and to be in Gryffindor, not Slytherin.

About halfway through the feast, the ghosts appeared through the walls. Albus had been wondering where Nearly Headless Nick was, along with the Bloody Baron; ever since he'd heard the Baron's story from his mother, Albus had been excited to put the blood-soaked image with the name.

The tall ghost with a ruff and tights floated straight through the center of the table, greeting the students.

"Hey, Sir Nick," James called as he glided through their section of the table.

"Hello, young James," Nick nodded, his curly head wobbling. "Back for another year of tormenting Mrs. Norris, I assume?"

"That's Nearly Headless Nick," Rose said to an excited Sophia. "He died by getting his head cut off by a blunt ax. It didn't come all the way off, apparently."

"Well, hello," Sir Nick said to Albus. "I was wondering when we'd see the Harry Potter look-a-like. How are you, Albus?"

"I'm alright, Sir Nick," Albus said.

"Mr. Nick?" Sophia said, drawing Nick's attention. "Why'd you get your head chopped off?"

Sir Nick looked down at her with a bemused expression, then asked, "What is your name, child?"

"Sophia Ross."

"You have the strangest dialect. Are you an immigrant?"

"Huh?" Sophia wrinkled her nose.

Albus leaned over and whispered, "He wants to know where you lived before."

"Oh! Yeah, I used to live in the U.S." Sophia said, laughing.

"That country over in the Americas?" Nick asked. When Rose nodded to him, he smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Ross. To answer your question, I was found on the losing side of a… political debate over five hundred years ago. My sentence was to be beheaded by ax, though there were more efficient ways to dispose of wizards, even then. By the time my turn came on that eventful day, the ax was dulled so ridiculously that it took over forty blows to kill me."

"Go on, Sir Nick," said a fourth-year sitting across from Rose. "Show them your neck."

Nick didn't look very eager.

"So you can pull your head off?" Sophia exclaimed. "That is so cool! Please show me, Sir Nick!"

Nearly Headless Nick huffed heavily, looking halfway between annoyed and amused, and grabbed a handful of his hair to pull his head sideways, the neck barely held together by a small piece of skin.

Sophia stood up, trying to get a better view, but Nick quickly replaced his head and adjusted the ruff.

Sophia sat down again and leaned towards Albus, hissing, "I saw his _spine!_ It was all sticking out…_"_

It was well into the night when the Headmistress stood again and excused them all to follow their Prefects to their dorms.

Albus stood up, stretching his full stomach. Then he felt the affects of the food and exhausting fear. Yawning, he made his way over to a tall boy and girl with badges pinned to their robes.

The Prefects told them to all stay close and then led them out into the Entry Hall and up the huge marble staircase. Sophia was amazed by the paintings and stopped to talk to the people staring out through the canvas. Several times, Albus had to run back and grab her before she was lost from the group. While on the moving staircases, Sophia turned to Evan and said, "This would a killer place to roller-blade in. Can you imagine going down these stairs?!"

Evan looked over at Albus, "What's roller-blade?" Albus just shrugged.

The Prefects led them up a few corridors and finally to a life-sized portrait of an extremely fat lady dressed in a frilly pink dress. "Hello, students! Welcome," she trilled in a high voice. "Password?"

"Dumbledore's Nightdress," the girl Prefect stated, smiling as the first-years laughed.

The fat woman giggled, and then her picture swung forward, frame and everything. Behind it was a hole.

The Prefects didn't hesitate to climb through it, ducking their heads and stepping over the high threshold. Albus, Sophia, Evan and Rose were the last to enter the circular Common Room. It seemed like just the place Albus would need to unwind after a hard day; it reminded him of home. The worn, red, comfortable furniture, the large fireplace, the tall windows; Albus wondered if his parents knew how similar their house was to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Alright, first-years, listen up!" the boy Prefect yelled. "Girls' dorm rooms are up the staircase to your right, boys' to the left. Your names will be on the door of your rooms and your things will be waiting for you. Breakfast in the Great Hall is at eight in the morning and classes begin at nine. If you have any questions, Charlotte and I can answer them. If not, sleep tight!"

"C'mon," Evan said to Albus, nodding to the staircase on the left.

"See you tomorrow!" Albus said to Rose and Sophia as he followed John.

They found their dorm almost halfway up the staircase. The boys were relieved to see that their names were together. Evan went in first, finding the room empty except for five four-poster beds with trunks and equipment next to them. As Albus moved past the door, he looked at the paper with their names on it again. "Scorpius Malfoy" was printed just after "Evan Diggory."

"Did you see the Malfoy boy is with us?" Albus asked as he found his trunk. Bruce, his tawny owl, rested in his cage beside the bed.

Evan looked up from the pajamas in his hands. "No."

"It's weird he's in Gryffindor, isn't it? I thought all Malfoys went to Slytherin," Albus said, looking through his trunk.

"So did I," Evan stated.

Just then they were joined by two boys. They introduced themselves as Brett Simons and Zackary Luker. Brett looked a little on the hefty side, his arms hanging away from his body and his dark hair cropped short; apparently, his father was in the Armed Forces for the Muggles. Zackary was thin and tall with dirty blond hair; he had the slight air of being the spoiled, only-child of a rich couple. Pretty soon, the four were acting as if they'd known each other for a long time, horsing around and talking about how nervous they'd been during the Sorting.

At first, they didn't notice that Scorpius Malfoy had joined them. They all went silent, looking at the pale boy without expression. Scorpius shut the door, looking at the floor, and then hurried to the only unoccupied bed. He dressed quickly in his pajamas and shut the drapes to his bed without a word.

"Not too friendly, is he?" Evan asked Albus quietly before climbing into his own bed.

Albus looked over to Scorpius' bed. He wouldn't want to be in the blond boy's shoes, that was sure. He knew that what Scorpius was going through was exactly what he'd been scared of during the Sorting. What had made the Hat put a boy like Scorpius in Gryffindor?

Giving Bruce a little treat, Albus climbed into bed, bidding the other boys good night. The last thing he thought before drifting off was that he couldn't wait to write to his family about being in Gryffindor.


	3. Teachers, Books, And Dirty Looks

Albus woke to the dormitory door closing. Looking at the window, he noticed that the sun hadn't risen yet, and then looking at his clock, he saw that it was nearly six in the morning. Rising up on his elbow, Albus yawned. Someone had just come in or just left, but his grogginess wouldn't let him think just yet.

"Hey, Al!" said a quiet voice.

Albus started, sitting up quickly. "James?"

"Morning!" His older brother's shadow suddenly jumped onto his bed. "Just wanted to check on how your first night in Hogwarts was. By the way, how'd you sleep with a snake in the same room as you?"

"What," Albus said, rubbing his eyes, "are you _talking_ about? What snake?"

"Well, I guess a scorpion would be the right word for him, wouldn't it?" James said.

Albus looked in the direction James nodded. "Oh! Scorpius."

"Weird isn't it?" James whispered. "Who ever heard of a Malfoy in Gryffindor? I can see maybe Ravenclaw if not Slytherin, but Gryffindor?!"

"Do you think Aunt Hermione might've made a mistake when she fixed it?" Albus asked. He knew the answer before he'd asked the question.

"Nah," they both said in unison.

"Maybe it's finally going senile," James said. "It's got to be as old as this castle. A wonder it lasted this long."

Albus looked at the drawn curtains around Scorpius' bed. "Maybe he's supposed to be in Gryffindor…"

"No way bro," James shook his head. "Have you heard anything Dad's told us about his dad? He was a Death Eater! Everyone knows that type goes to Slytherin. Voldemort was Slytherin's heir anyhow."

"Yes, but the Malfoy's aren't related to Voldemort."

"They still followed him. Counts for something, doesn't it?"

"Who is his mum? Did Dad ever tell us?"

"Her name is Astoria. That much I know, but I don't think Dad's ever told us about her."

They were silent for a moment and then James suddenly asked, "So, up for the first day of school?"

"I think so," Albus murmured. "It's better to just know I'm in Gryffindor. The hat scared me, saying that I was like the other Slytherins. It isn't very nice."

James laughed, "He freaked me out too."

"How do you know it's a he?"

"I can tell. He talks like that old man who lives down the street from us."

"The hat doesn't talk, James…"

"Oh, hush up," James said impatiently. "I can just tell, alright?"

Albus pursed his lips. Arguing with James never really ended up with Albus winning. Maybe now that he had a wand too…

"Wass gone on?" Evan suddenly sat straight up.

James jumped up. Albus could now see that he was already dressed in his robes. "Hey, Albus' roommate. I was just leaving. Remember to watch out for Peeves, Albus. He likes the first-years more than the others." He sauntered out.

"Who was that?" Evan asked, stretching out under his blankets.

"My brother James," Albus explained as he got out of bed. Now that he was up, the excitement for his first day of classes was prominent. He didn't think he could go back to sleep; even though breakfast wasn't for a long while.

Moving to the foot of his bed, Albus opened his neatly organized trunk and proceeded to disorganize it while searching for his clean uniform.

Soon, Albus was sitting in the Common Room at a table, Bruce sitting next to his inkwell as he wrote his first letter to his family. He was too excited to be embarrassed about writing so soon.

He wrote about Hagrid's Hippocampus herd, about the Sorting Hat, and most of all, about his friends. He mentioned Scorpius and Nearly-Headless Nick, and he talked about how excited he was to start learning magic so he could fend off James' pranks.

When he'd finished, Albus tied the rolled up parchment to Bruce's leg, murmuring, "Take this home, Bruce. I know it's your first delivery, but don't be nervous. You won't get too lost, will you?"

Bruce fluffed up his feathers, flustered at being doubted.

Albus smiled, "Of course not." He carried the tawny owl to the window and watched Bruce fly away. Then, excited once again, Albus walked back to the boys' staircase. Just as he was about half the distance to his dorm, Scorpius Malfoy appeared on the steps. Albus thought he looked tired; he was dragging his feet and his head hung low.

Before Albus could think of something to say, the blond boy had passed him, glancing up with a weary anger in his gray eyes.

Feeling another stab of pity, Albus walked the rest of the way up to his dorm to find that the three remaining boys were still asleep. Thoroughly bored, Albus grabbed up his bag, searching through it one last time to make sure he had all of his textbooks. He hoped he wouldn't have to read through them too much, though he doubted it.

Picking up his wand, Albus remembered his visit to Ollivander's. The woman there had been very flustered when it took so long for Albus to find a wand that chose him. Albus had felt bad as the wand-boxes piled up around his ankles, but his mum said the woman was just scared of upsetting his father. Eventually, though, a wand 10 and a half inches long, made of holly with a dragon heartstring core had chosen him. The golden sparks that swirled out of the tip had startled everyone, especially the saleswoman.

Tucking the wand into his pocket and shouldering his bag, Albus noticed that the clock now said six thirty. He took a deep breath, wondering how he would be able to stand all the waiting.

Albus walked down the steps yet again to the Common Room.

"Hey Albus!"

The loud voice was startling after the quiet of the morning. Sophia was sitting in an armchair, her smile wide. Scorpius Malfoy was seated in the one next to her, looking slightly uncomfortable in her presence. Her black combat boots, shaggy, pixie hairstyle, feathered earrings, and forward, American attitude seemed to be too much for him.

"Hi Sophia," Albus smiled, walking over to them. "Hello, Scorpius."

Scorpius didn't look up. "Hello." He looked positively miserable.

"Have a nice nap did you?" Albus asked Sophia, learning to leave Scorpius alone.

"Nap is right! I'm so excited, I could barely close my eyes!"

"Me too," Albus laughed, sitting in the chair facing hers. "I can't wait for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Really? I'm just excited to finally use this wand!" Sophia pulled out her wand. "Maple and phoenix feather."

Albus pulled his out too, "Holly and dragon heartstring. It took ages to find mine."

Sophia tilted her head, "They don't just give you one?"

Albus frowned in confusion, "No. The wand is supposed to choose you.

What, was that the first wand you touched?" He chuckled.

Sophia shrugged. "I'm just lucky, I guess."

Albus grew silent.

Suddenly, Scorpius stood, walking straight to the portrait hole and climbed out.

Sophia huffed in frustration, watching the pale figure disappear behind the portrait swinging closed.

"What?" Albus asked.

"What's a Mudblood?" Sophia asked instead of answering.

Albus gaped at her. "Did he call you that?"

"Yeah," Sophia sighed, leaning back and folding her arms with a thoughtful expression, "after I told him about my parents."

"People like him and his family think they're better than everyone because they've never married a Muggle," Albus explained. "They think Muggles are dirt. They actually followed Voldemort when he was alive. That's what they call Death Eaters."

Sophia didn't seem upset, only contemplating as she stared at the back of the Fat Lady's portrait. "This all happened before we were born, huh? This Voldemort stuff."

"Yes," Albus said carefully.

"I wonder how that would feel," Sophia said. "To be judged before I was even born."

Albus wasn't sure what to say to that. He was just grateful that Sophia didn't sound accusing.

"Anyway," Sophia said, snapping out of her reverie, "Rose doesn't like me very much."

"What? Why?" Albus asked.

"Because I'm in her dorm," Sophia said, laughing. "She's a little bossy, but she doesn't like to be told that."

Albus laughed too. "Don't I know it?!"

Later, Rose joined Albus and Sophia. She was beaming and she was fidgety, constantly smoothing down her robes and adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

"Good morning," she said. "Why are you up so early? It will probably affect your performance in class today."

"I couldn't go back to sleep," Sophia explained.

"And James came and woke me up early," Albus said.

"Well," Rose said, rolling her shoulders, "what should we do until breakfast?"

"Lets go exploring!" Sophia said. "I was talking to a picture of this little knight and he said there was a big tapestry about a huge battle that happened here. He said that Al's dad is in it."

"Sounds cool. Let's go," Albus said.

They all stood and had gone out of the portrait hole before Albus remembered.

"Wait! I'm going to get Evan. Wait here," he said, climbing back through the hole and racing up to his dorm again.

Evan was sitting up in his bed, yawning. The other boys were still asleep.

"Evan! Rose and Sophia are waiting for us," Albus said, walking over to his new friend. "Hurry up! We're going to explore the Castle."

"Alright, alright, I'm up," Evan said as he pushed his blankets away from him. It seemed to take Evan forever to get dressed and grab his bag. As a courtesy, Albus woke up the other boys before heading back down to the girls with Evan.

"Finally," Rose said. "A creepy ghost floated by just a minute ago."

"He was awesome!" Sophia said. "He was dripping blood and he had a sword. You should've seen him, Al."

"I'll bet that was the Bloody Baron," Evan said.

"Let's go!" Rose said impatiently.

As they began walking down the corridor toward the changing staircases, Rose asked, "Did the knight tell you where the tapestry was, Sophia?"

"He said that it was by the statue of a headmaster… um, whatshisname… I can't remember, but Sir Cadogan said that it was on the fourth floor."

"Ok, so let's get to the fourth floor and start looking," Evan said, shrugging. "What's this tapestry?"

"It's of the Battle of Hogwarts," Albus answered.

"Oh, cool," Evan said.

"What floor are we on?" Sophia asked.

"I think this is the seventh," Rose said. "I was looking at a map in Hogwarts, A History. Of course they wouldn't have the Common Rooms mapped out in a book, they're supposed to be secret in case of emergencies, but we were just in a tower and all the towers have entrances on the seventh floor."

"Ok, so we need to go down a few stories," Albus said. "Isn't there a staircase over here somewhere?"

They found a staircase that led down two stories, but about halfway down, both of the boys got their legs stuck in the same step. Rose and Sophia had to help them, laughing as they tugged them out of the quicksand-step.

The foursome made it to the fourth floor without any other incident, and they began to look for a tapestry across from a statue. It didn't take long.

"Whoa," Sophia said, craning her neck to look up at the white marble statue of a tall wizard with a beard and hair long enough to tuck into his belt. He was sitting in a chair, his fingertips pressed together and he was looking over his hands down at them, his half-moon spectacles perched on a crooked nose. Albus could see a knowing, playful twinkle in the wizard's marble eyes, almost as if he were alive.

"Albus Dumbledore," Rose said. She was looking at a plaque at the statue's feet, but she'd know who he was without looking at it.

"Hey! This is the headmaster you were named after!" Sophia exclaimed. "How'd I forget his name?"

"I don't know," Albus said, never looking away from the statue. He wished he'd known this stranger.

"Wow," Evan said a little distance away. "Look at this, guys."

The tapestry took up a large part of the wall; it could've been at least thirty feet long. It was strange that this tapestry didn't move like the others, but Rose guessed that it might be inappropriate for children if it were in motion. Hogwarts Castle took up much of the background, looking broken and scared by magic. The trees of the Forbidden Forest took up the rest of the background. Most of the space was filled with wizards, some wearing robes of black with masks that looked like skulls, others wearing colorful robes and their faces unshielded. They were aiming wands at each other, casting spells and cursing. By the forest, huge spiders and centaurs were fighting with the wizards, and by the castle, giants were reaching into windows and swinging clubs. In the center of the tapestry, two figures commanded most of the attention. One was Albus' father, unruly black hair and round glasses. Harry Potter was pointing a wand at the other figure, his importance evident in the tapestry.

"So that's Voldemort," Sophia said quietly, staring up at the second of the biggest figures with her mouth open. Voldemort was hairless and deathly pale, his nose flat like a snake's, and his red eyes had vertical pupils like a cat's; his presence was potent, even if he wasn't really there. Albus could feel a cold tingling on the back of his neck as he looked at his father's foe.

Evan shivered. "See what you guys have done? Now Sophia's saying it."

"Maybe you should too," Rose said. "It only gives power to a dead person when you're scared of his name."

Evan just shivered again.

"Hey, he looks familiar," Sophia said, pointing at the tapestry.

Albus looked at what Sophia had pointed at; it was a man holding a long sword, the body of a headless snake at his feet. A charred, ancient hat was fluttering to the ground, seeming to have just come off the hero's head.

"That's Professor Longbottom," Rose said. "He's the one who put the Sorting Hat on our heads."

"That's so cool! We have a hero for a teacher! What does he teach?" Sophia asked, bouncing on her toes.

"Herbology," Albus said, smiling. "He visits me and Rose sometimes. James says he's a cool teacher, even if he is clumsy sometimes. He has lots of jokes."

They stood in the shadow of Dumbledore's statue for a few minutes, laughing at the jokes Albus and Rose remembered from Professor Longbottom and looking up at the stationary tapestry. Then, Sophia's curiosity got the better of her patience and they were off exploring again.

They found a few more statues on the fourth floor, all of them older than the one of Albus Dumbledore but each with their own interesting and strange history written on plaques. They walked far, looking into some empty classrooms and talking to different portraits.

"How come there are so many rooms? There aren't that many teachers are there?" Sophia asked.

"A lot of the rooms are never used," Rose said. "The teachers each have their preferences in their rooms and hardly ever move throughout their career in the school. There is one teacher that my dad told me about; his classroom was rendered to look like the forest because he was a centaur."

"But if you think about it," Evan said, "why did the Four Founders make the castle so big? Did they have lot more teachers back then?"

A very old portrait of a thin wizard in medieval clothing spoke up loudly, "Indeed they did, young students. Witches and wizards used to be made out of Muggles and the demand for more teachers required a large castle."

"What do you mean, 'wizards made out of Muggles?'" Rose asked.

"Oh, a very long time ago, wizards would go out into the Muggle population and teach different sorts of spells and the like to them. A lot of the time, Muggles could actually do a spell or two," the portrait explained matter-of-factly. "But sadly, they became very demanding of wizards for their problems. We went into hiding, and rather well, in fact. Now, it is mere fantasy that we exist to almost all Muggles."

Sophia looked at Albus with a bright look in her electric eyes and shrugged as if to say, "Well, how about that?"

Eventually, they decided to head down to the Great Hall. Evan's watch had just ticked away to seven thirty.

About halfway down the Marble Staircase, a loud cackling made them all look up. A small man was floating in the air above them, a jester's uniform making him easy to spot.

"Uh-oh," Rose murmured.

"Ooo, ickle firsties!" the little man said, raising his arm. "Come to learn something?" Albus saw the peashooter a moment before a wet glob of parchment flew through the air and landed solidly on his chest.

"RUN!" Evan yelled.

The four quickly covered their heads with their arms and ran the rest of the way down the staircase toward the doors to the Great Hall. Peeves followed them, laughing madly as he continued to pelt them with sticky parchment at the impossible rate of a machine gun. The speed of the missiles caused them to sting wherever they struck skin.

"Oi! Peeves, leave them alone!" said a voice.

Albus looked around to see Victoire standing on the Marble Staircase.

Peeves smirked and spat another round of spitballs, aiming for Rose's hair.

"Protego!" Victoire yelled, waving her wand.

The spitballs hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground. Albus gave out a relieved sigh.

"Get out of here, Peeves," Victoire said severely, walking down the stairs.

Peeves blew a wet raspberry at the four first years trying to dislodge his spitballs from their clothes and hair, and then flew down a hallway, giggling as he went.

"Thank you, Victoire," Rose said, pulling a rather large spitball from behind her ear.

"Yeah, thanks, Vic," Albus said, smiling as Victoire made her way over to them.

"No problem," the seventh year girl said. "So, who are your friends?"

"This is Sophia Ross and Evan Diggory," Rose said, brushing her arms off.

"Nice to meet you both," Victoire smiled, reaching out a hand to shake with Sophia. When she turned to Evan, she saw his slack-jawed smile and couldn't help but chuckle a little before turning back to her cousins.

"You should've waited for the rest of your House to start heading down here," she said. "Having the more experienced students can be helpful when going up against Peeves."

"We'll keep that in mind next time," Rose said sullenly. "When Mum and Dad said he was a pain I didn't think he'd be a _real _pain."

Victoire laughed and put her arms around Albus and Rose's shoulders. "C'mon. I bet the House Elves will have made the best breakfast you guys have ever eaten."

"Where are your friends, Victoire?" Albus asked as they entered the Great Hall.

"Still in their beds, I expect," Victoire shrugged. "They like to cut it close, even if they are in Ravenclaw and all. I think I see one or two, though."

Albus could see that the tables were laid with every breakfast food he could think of, and now that he thought of it, he was famished. The Hall was nearly empty of students and the only one seated at the Head Table was the Headmistress.

"I'll be seeing you around, guys," Victoire said, waving as she went to the Ravenclaw table.

Albus waved absentmindedly; he'd could see a single figure sitting alone and still at the Gryffindor Table, staring at the Slytherin Table.

"Hey, guys, let's sit by that kid," Sophia said, nodding to Scorpius as they started to sit at the table.

Albus looked at her with a bewildered expression. "Do you not remember what he called you this morning?"

"Oh, hey, I've been called worse," Sophia shrugged, and then laughed. "Believe me, a lot worse."

"Maybe in Muggle terms," Albus said. "But what he said is one of the worst things you can call someone in the Wizarding World."

Sophia's pale eyebrows knitted together as she sat next to Rose.

"What'd he call her?" Evan whispered to Albus.

"He called her a Mudblood after he found out she was Muggle-born," Albus said.

Albus didn't realize he was staring at Scorpius until his gray eyes turned to glare at him.

The Great Hall filled up with students and the noise level grew. The professors began to file in as well, sitting at the Head Table with Professor Bones.

Just as Albus was making his way through his second plate of eggs, Professor Longbottom came to him and handed him, Rose, and Evana sheet of parchment. "I look forward to seeing you in class," he said, smiling down at them as he passed them by.

"See you later, Nev… Professor Longbottom," Rose said.

Their first class that morning was Charms. Professor Flitwick was a tiny man, barely reaching up to Albus' elbows. He greeted Albus and Rose graciously, complimenting Rose on her mother's talent and mentioning Albus' grandfather and grandmother. "He has to be simply ancient if he taught your grandma!" Rose whispered to Albus. Professor Flitwick was enchanted by Sophia's bubbly attitude and was kind when Evan mentioned his height. To start class off, he showed them all a few charms that they would be learning that year and warning them to not try the magic until they knew their way around their wands better. Albus' favorite charm was the dancing desk. And then Professor Flitwick showed them the proper techniques to wave their wands. They didn't receive any homework.

Their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, was taught by Professor Walker. She was an older woman with steel-gray hair and dark, observant eyes. Her voice was brassier than most women's voices and carried in an almost unusual way. She looked as if her looks didn't matter to her, but she was clean and crisp in her pale gray robes. Her classroom was essentially bare except for her desk, the students' desks, and a blackboard at the front. "Alright, class," she said, using her wand to shut the door. "Have you all got your textbooks? Excellent. I will start you first-years off with a few Dark creatures that aren't too difficult..." Her class was very high-paced and was filled with fact after fact. "Pogrebins are creatures that like to follow a human around, creating a feeling of hopelessness until said human collapses; they like how we taste." Rose's quill was moving incredibly fast as she took notes on pogrebins, making Albus feel a little like a slacker and judging by Evan's and Sophia's expressions, they felt the same way. "Now, pogrebins are usually found in Russia, but they can be found in any corner of the globe due to the black market; their intestinal juices can be used as valuable anti-depressants if prepared properly." As the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Professor Walker was saying, "Your homework: read what your textbook tells you about pogrebins on page one hundred and fifty-three, though I doubt there is anything I haven't already told you. Next class, we will practice the spell that will zap the pogrebin's into leaving you alone. Now, go on, get out of here!"

The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws stood up, pushing their notes into their bags.

"That was incredible!" Rose said as they lined up to leave the classroom. "She told us everything the book says without even looking at her notes, and she told us more than the book!"

"She's definitely my favorite teacher," Albus said, looking back to see Professor Walker writing something with a smile on her face.

"What class do we have next?" Evan asked as he squeezed through the door with Sophia.

Rose pulled her schedule out of her bag, "It's a homework hour until lunch and then after lunch, it's Potions."

"I heard Potions is hard," Evan said, his face turning worried. "My older sister says Professor Gibberman is really strict."

"At least you knew you had to learn about Potions!" Sophia grunted as she shouldered her way through a crowd of fifth years the others had been able to dodge. "I'm already freaking out and I haven't even been through one day! What do pogrebins look like?" She looked over her shoulder warily.

.

The library was at least as big as the Great Hall, but where the Great Hall was alive with talk, the library was nearly silent. The bookshelves went up to the tall, vaulted ceiling, making Albus feel impossibly small, and they jutted out from the walls to make a narrow passageway to the desk at the center of the room. It definitely wasn't Albus' favorite place, as it was too quiet for how big it was, but Rose was in love the moment they walked through the doors. Albus knew she would be.

And she wasn't the only one. "Wow," Sophia breathed, looked up at the huge shelves, the feathers in her ears swinging. "This is a lot better than the library back home."

"You mean at home in England or in the U.S?" Albus asked as they walked through the shelves.

"I haven't been to a library here yet," Sophia said. "But I bet this is better than any library in the world!"

"Shh, quiet! You're in a library, after all!" hissed a thin, battered-looking woman carrying a tall stack of books that looked about to topple onto the floor.

Sophia rushed over to her, "Do you know where the books about magical creatures are? Here, let me take some of those." She grabbed the top half of the stack of books out of the woman's arms. "Where did you need them?" she asked as she almost dropped some of them.

The woman stared at her. "Just over here…" she gestured to the giant desk at the center of the library. Sophia started off without a guide, looking down at the floor, which was the moving picture of the solar system.

Albus looked over at Evan, who's eyes were wide, and then over at Rose, who looked a little disgruntled.

"How can one person be so happy to be here?" Rose asked, folding her arms. "I mean, I'm happy to finally be here, but she is…"

Albus just shrugged, and walked over to where Sophia was chatting with the librarian.

"Oh, thank you," Sophia said just as they caught up with her. She turned to them, and said, "The books are just over here…"

"I'm sure the books are everywhere, Soph," Evan said, making Albus grin.

"Ha! Here's one," Sophia said, pulling out a book. "'Nefarious Creatures and their Services' by Luna Scamander. Sounds weird."

"Luna Scamander?" Rose asked.

Albus grabbed the book and turned to the end page, the others looking over his shoulder. The face of Luna Scamander was a familiar one. The woman was smiling vaguely up at them, her bulbous, blue eyes misty and her dirty blond hair wavy and wild. Occasionally, she would wave at them or adjust the odd hat on her head.

"What is that thing on her head?" Evan asked, his nose wrinkling.

Rose squinted, grabbing the book. "It looks like a Blast-Ended Skrewt shell."

"A Blast-Ended what shell?" Sophia giggled.

"Skrewt," Albus murmured. "Don't our parents know her?"

"I'm sure I remember Mum talking about her," Rose said.

"Hey, I want to know what a Skrewt is," Sophia said, taking her book back and opening it.

"I've never seen anyone that like books as much as Rose does," Albus laughed. Rose smiled sarcastically at him and ruffled his hair, knowing how self-conscious he was about the way it stuck up at the back.

"That's what a pogrebin looks like," Sophia announced later, holding up the book for everyone to see.

Albus put down his book about racing brooms to look at the sketch she was showing him.

"Are you sure that's it?" Evan asked, his quill poised over a letter he'd been writing. "It looks like a rock."

"Yes, look, the caption says 'pogrebin,'" Sophia pointed.

"You can see its legs and mouth on the next page," Rose said, not looking up from her book.

Sophia turned the page and started laughing. "It's exactly how I imagined a pet rock would look like! Only… it's trying to eat a person…"

"What are you reading about, Rose?" Albus asked.

"I'm just looking at some commonly known potion ingredients," Rose stated, turning a page.

"Like what?" Sophia asked.

"Well, a bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat," Rose listed. Since she had an audience willing to listen to her lecture, Rose talked the entire homework hour.

.

At lunch, Scorpius looked miserable, poking at his shepherd's pie. All the Gryffindors looked sideways at him before sitting far away from him.

"What did Scorpius say to you before breakfast?" Rose asked Sophia. She'd considerable warmed to Sophia in the library.

"He asked why I was sitting with him," Sophia said. "And I said that I could sit anywhere I wanted. Then he asked if I knew who he was and I said his name." She shrugged. "I kept asking him questions and he kept calling me Mudblood until Albus came down."

Albus looked over at Scorpius again, who was getting up to leave. He thought of what Sophia had said this morning, about being 'judged before even being born.' It actually made Albus think of how much pressure he'd felt to be in Gryffindor so that he could be like his parents… and now he thought of how much pressure must've been put on Scorpius to be in Slytherin.

"You should leave him alone, Sophia," Evan said. "He obviously doesn't like you trying to be his pal."

"He just doesn't know why I'm trying to be his friend, so he acts mean."

"Why are you trying?" Albus asked.

Sophia shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he'll turn out to be nice later."

Rose looked like she was about to say something, but she held her tongue.

.

Their Potions classroom was in the dungeons, but the many torches around the room made the gloomy atmosphere lighter. Professor Gibberman was an aging man with small eyes, large nostrils, and a pot-belly. His thin hair was fluorescent purple and sticking up in strange directions, his face looked red, as if he'd caught too much sun, his eyebrows were gone, and his arms were longer than average. Albus thought he looked a little like an angry, purple monkey, sitting behind his desk and tapping his hairy fingers as they entered.

As the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were sitting down at their cauldrons, a boy raised his hand and asked, "Sir, why is your hair purple?"

"What a question to ask, young man!" Professor Gibberman said loudly, standing with a huff. "What is your name, boy?"

"Robert Timmins, sir," said the boy quietly, looking very uncomfortable.

"Well, Mister Timmins," Professor Gibberman said, walking around his desk to stand right in front of Robert. "I will ask to think about how such questions as yours would affect the well-being of those you ask of!"

Albus could feel his nose wrinkling, as it often did when he was confronted by Aunt Hermione's ancient cat, Crookshanks; he'd never been fond of cats and it didn't help that the creature's orange fur always managed to get up his nose. He sneezed then, bringing the professor's gaze upon him.

"With a sneeze like that, you'll wake the dead, young man!" Professor Gibberman said, pacing toward Albus' and Evan's table. "Have a care and cover your nose when you sneeze in this classroom! A boogey shooting into a potion can singe the lashes off your eyes!"

Albus didn't like Professor Gibberman, he decided.

Sophia, who was sitting at the table next to Albus and Evan, raised her hand, looking docile in the light of Professor Gibberman's purple wrath.

"Yes, what is your name?" Professor Gibberman snapped.

"Sophia Ross, sir," she said, smiling softly. "May I ask a question, professor?"

Professor Gibberman's mouth twisted as if he'd just tasted a rather sour lemon. "That is why I called on you, Miss!"

"Thank you sir," Sophia said, and cleared her throat. "Have you actually seen a potion singe off eyelashes?"

Professor Gibberman huffed, "Of course I have. It happened just a moment ago. Idiot Longbottom tripped on his way through here and dropped his idiot plant in a potion I was preparing for this class. The explosion was enough to melt the bottom out of my best cauldron."

"So that's why his hair is purple," Evan murmured to Albus.

By the end of class, Sophia had become Professor Gibberman's favorite; he didn't glare as hard at her and she was simply able to ask the right kind of questions so that he would answer them, so everyone, even Rose, left her to ask every single one of them.

"How do you do it?" Albus asked in a whisper as they filed out of the dungeon classroom. "He wouldn't let anyone else talk, except for you!"

"He's just having a bad day. I wouldn't mind, though, if my hair turned purple. And my mom taught me how to ask questions like that. All you have to do is ask a question that won't give you the answer, but will give you enough clues…" Sophia trailed off, staring ahead.

Albus followed her gaze and saw five or six Slytherin students standing close together in the hall. He couldn't see their faces, only their backs.

"…Hat doesn't make mistakes, Malfoy," a tall, dark-haired boy was saying near the center of their group. "You were put in screw-up-ville because your father's a useless traitor…"

"Shut up," Scorpius said, his voice dangerously low. He stood alone, opposite the Slytherins.

A girl with long blond hair giggled. "Your daddy's a spine-less flip-flopper," she said in a breathy voice. "No use denying it."

Scorpius just glared at her, clenching his fist over his wand which was starting to glow.

"Wait guys…" Sophia murmured as they walked past the group.

"Don't get into it," Evan said, trying to herd her toward the stairs.

"Come on, Soph," Albus said, grabbing her arm and eyeing a particularly tall boy with thick shoulders. Sophia was even shorter than Albus.

"He's alone, Al!" she said urgently, and pushed past him.

"Wait, Sophia!" Rose called after her, but Sophia didn't look back.

She went around the crowd and stood next to Scorpius. He looked at her through narrowed eyes. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

Sophia smiled at him, "There's no law saying I can't stand here, Scorpius. You can walk if you want to."

Scorpius just stared at her.

"Oh, how cute!" the dark-haired boy barked. "The traitor has a lap dog!"

"Are you going to sick her on us, Malfoy?" the blond girl asked as their group laughed.

Sophia smiled grimly. Albus had never seen her so serious.

"What are we going to do?" Rose whispered, grabbing Albus' elbow.

Albus shook his head.

"We have to do something," Evan said.

"You're the American, aren't you?" the blond girl said in a simpering voice, walking toward Sophia.

Sophia was still smiling in a hard way as she raised an eyebrow.

The blond girl stood still in front of her for a moment, as if waiting for something, and then backed up to stand next to the dark-haired boy.

"Come on," Albus said, his heart in his throat as he walked over to the group. Rose and Evan hesitated for a moment before following him.

"Hey, guys," Sophia said, still staring at the blond girl.

Albus saw that the girl was incredibly pale, as if she had been rolled in flour, and her eyes looked very dark, the shadowed eyelids standing out against her skin. Her lips were puffy and almost as pale as the rest of her. Her gold hair was the only thing colorful about her appearance, besides the green in her uniform. Her dark eyes swept over them, pausing on Albus.

"What're your names, Gryffindors?" her friend asked. He was tall and his skin was a darker complexion than most. His eyes were black as his pupils and his black hair had a crisp wave in it.

"What's yours?" Albus retorted. His voice was weaker than he'd thought it would be.

"Will Quentin," the boy said, smiling. "But of course, you're a Potter. You look just like your snobbish father."

Albus scowled.

"You're a Weasley, aren't you?" asked the blond Slytherin girl, looking to Rose.

"Yes," Rose said, her chin lifting.

"Bet you're happy that you didn't get carrot hair!" said one of the other girls in the Slytherin group.

Rose's nostrils flared and she flipped her brown, frizzy hair over her shoulder.

"And you, freckles?" asked Will Quentin, looking at Evan appraisingly.

"Evan Diggory," Evan said, clenching his jaw.

The pale girl smiled at Sophia; her teeth were blindingly white. "What's yours, American?" Her voice was still airy, as if she had something lodged in her throat. It was very annoying, Albus thought.

"Jillian Gigglestern," Sophia said. Albus looked at her sideways and she grinned at him before saying to the girl, "What's yours, vampire-ess?"

The girl's smile turned to a warning look, "Elektra Tepes."

"Was there something else we could do for you, Elektra Tepes, or did you just want to look?" Sophia asked, putting an elbow on Albus' shoulder in mock-swagger. Albus smiled.

"What a freak show!" a Slytherin boy laughed. "With the Mudblood as a main attraction, talking tough!"

"What are you, Malfoy?" Quentin asked. "You don't have a backbone, so maybe you could be the… flexible… twisty… person…What are they called?" he whispered to Tepes.

Suddenly, Scorpius pushed past Albus and ran up the stone stairs, nearly crashing into a group of sixth years heading down. Albus hadn't seen the look on his face, but he hoped he wasn't crying…

"It's called a 'contortionist,' butt-face," Sophia snapped at Quentin. "Maybe if you grew a few brain-cells, you'd know how to hurt someone's feelings. Oh," she turned to Tepes, "and who were you named after, an electric eel?"

Albus laughed as Sophia saluted the Slytherins and ran up the stairs, her boots clomping with each step.

Evan snorted and ran after her. Rose looked at Albus, smiled smugly at Quentin and Tepes, and strutted away, her nose in the air. Albus smirked and caught up with Rose to walk with her.

"Dad wasn't kidding when he said the Slytherins were toe-rags," Rose fumed as she and Albus entered the Great Hall. "I can't wait to learn that Bat-Bogey Jinx your mom was telling us about so I can practice on that Elektra girl."

Albus laughed and pocketed his wand now that they were in a safer place with a bunch of tall Gryffindors around.

"Where did Evan and Sophia go?" Rose asked, looking around at the Marble Staircase.

"I don't know…"

"AL!" someone screamed. Albus didn't have time to react before he was suddenly being hugged tightly by someone.

"ROSE!" the person said, releasing him and throwing her arms around Rose.

"Hi, Dominique," Albus gasped, pulling his robes straight again.

Dominique was in James' year, but she looked older. Her straight strawberry-blond hair reached her shoulders and she was every bit as beautiful as her older sister, Victoire. Albus knew from childhood experiences that Dom was the enthusiast for tiaras and poufy dresses, and her neon pink eye-shadow and thick mascara was evidence to her obsession.

"I'm so excited you guys are finally here," Dominique said, clasping her hands together. "Isn't Hogwarts the best? Except for Peeves of course…"

"Calm down, Dom," their other cousin, Molly, said as she walked toward them. She smiled at them, pushing her horn-rimmed glasses back up her narrow, freckled nose. Her curly hair was as bright red as any of the Weasley's and she had the exact same birthday as Dominique.

"Hi, Molly," Rose said. "How are you?"

"Especially bothered," Molly said stiffly, straightening the stack of books in her arms. "A very loud girl with weird earrings bowled me over just a moment ago, yelling something about scorpions."

"That had to be Sophia," Albus said.

"Is that the American Vicky was telling me about?" Dominique asked. When Rose nodded, she added, "Oh, I love her boots!"

Molly sighed, rolling her eyes at Dominique. "How has your first day been so far, guys?"

"Good," Albus said. "I definitely like Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Yeah, Professor Walker's amazing, isn't she?" Dominique said happily. "She's intense though; her pop quizzes are pretty hard…"

"We need to go, Albus," Rose suddenly announced, looking at her watch. "We'll be late."

"Alrighty, Al, Rose," Dominique said, giving them each another hug. "I'll look for you at dinner."

"Ok. Bye, Dommers."

"See you, Molly."

Rose and Albus waved, walking toward the giant doors leading outside.

They were one of the first people to the greenhouses; they had visited the school before and, apparently, they were hard to find for students who had never been to the Castle. Professor Longbottom was waiting outside Greenhouse One, talking with a few girl students Albus knew were in Gryffindor.

"Hello, Professor Longbottom," Albus greeted him, smiling.

"Well, hello," Neville said. "How's your first day so far?"

"Alright, I guess," Albus said. "Except for those stupid Slytherin kids."

Professor Longbottom sighed, "It would be too much to ask for Gryffindors and Slytherins to get along, wouldn't it?"

Suddenly, Evan appeared.

"Where did you go?" Albus asked.

"We were looking for you and Sophia in the Entrance Hall," Rose explained. "Where is she?"

Evan shrugged. "I think she was chasing Scorpius up the stairs."

"The Malfoy boy?" Professor Longbottom asked. "Excuse my intruding."

"I don't know why she's following him around," Rose said, putting her hands on her hips. "He's been nothing but rude to her and..."

Albus poked her shoulder.

"What?" she asked and then looked up where Albus was staring.

Sophia and Scorpius were walking around the corner of the Castle, headed toward them. They were several feet apart as they walked together and Scorpius' feelings of discomfort were very apparent, but Sophia was looking as chipper as she ever had.

"Hi, guys," she said, joining them. Scorpius stayed away, hands in the pockets of his robes, staring at the door to the greenhouse lazily. Albus thought he didn't look so miserable anymore and it could only have something to do with Sophia.

.

"This," Sophia sighed as they were walking to dinner in the Great Hall, "is the bestest, most awesomest, freaking day of my entire life."

"So far," Albus joked. "You still have tomorrow."

Sophia laughed, "You're right! Maybe something will explode and turn my hair purple like Professor Gibberman's!"

"I would rather my hair be turned red," Rose said loudly as they walked by the Slytherin Table. Elektra Tepes sniffed and flipped her long hair over her shoulder as Evan and Albus glared at Quentin.

Sophia fist-bumped with Rose, muttering, "Ni-ice."

They sat down together, and just as they were tucking into their food, Sophia suddenly shouted, "Hey, Scorpius!"

Scorpius saw Sophia waving, hesitated, and then walked slowly down the table toward them. Albus, Rose, and Evan didn't say anything as he came to stand opposite them, all clueless as to what they should do.

"Do you like dumplings, Scorpius?" Sophia said as if he'd always been there. "I don't like the Chinese things but these ones are good, I guess."

Scorpius was obviously a little confused and/or uncomfortable as he said, "I guess so."

"Want to sit down…?" Albus asked, pointing at the table.

Scorpius looked at him, and this time he wasn't glaring as he sank onto the bench opposite them.

Sophia acted like there was nothing to be awkward about, asking many questions about life growing up as wizards while they ate. Scorpius never said anything unless Sophia directly asked him a question and the others were unsure of what they would say to him, so they didn't say anything to him. Albus' and Rose's parents had been mortal enemies with his dad in school and they'd heard all the stories, and Evan had always heard the name Malfoy in the same sentence as You-Know-Who. Even Dominique acted cautiously as she walked over to say hello, her usually toothy grin turning into a weak smile when she saw Scorpius.


End file.
